WWD_WK0

Welcome to the SQL/Databases part of the Working with Data Module, part of the MSc in Computing (Data Analytics).

In this part of the module we will look at how to use SQL to perform various tasks with processing, understanding, manipulating, etc data in a Database.

SQL appears in the top three most common languages in most Data Science surveys. The reason for this is most, if not all, data is stored in a Database. The could be in the various transnational databases, or in various NoSQL, Hadoop or Big Data storage engines (Databases). SQL is the common language used to access and process the data in these Databases.

Most students have some experience of using SQL. This is good. For those that have never used SQL before, that is OK. The first couple of weeks of the module goes over the basics. YES you will need to do some independent learning. I’ve links to various tutorials and useful websites. Google will be you friend.

SQL Developer is the client software you need to use to access the database and run your SQL code. This is a free tool and needs to be downloaded and unzipped on your laptop/desktop. There is no install. Just unzip and it is ready to use.

Oracle (SQL Developer) Data Modeler is data modelling software you will be using in second week of this part of the module. This needs to be downloaded and unzipped on your laptop/desktop. There is no install. Just unzip and it is ready to use.

4. Check that you can log into the Wifi. The School of Computing (SoC) Oracle Database should be available over the wifi. To work on your lab exercises and assignment, you will need to connect to the wifi or use the SoC Virtual Desktop service.

The first step is to install VirtualBox. This is software to allow you to run virtual machines.

Second step is to download and install a pre-built virtual machine. Oracle provides several virtual machines that are pre-built with lots of software. Download this pre-built virtual machine. It contains an installed Oracle Database Enterprise Edition (it has all the database features), contains some additionally installed software, and also some tutorials. Follow the installation instructions.

You will need a PC/Laptop that is 64bit and capable of running Virtualisation.

You will need to change some of the configuration settings for this machine. Change RAM to 4G, and number of CPUs to 2.